The invention lies in the field of medical technology and concerns implants, surgical devices, and surgical methods. It especially concerns implants suitable for being anchored in hard tissue, in particular in bone tissue, with the aid of mechanical vibrations, through which a, for example, thermoplastic material provided on the implant is liquefied in places where it is in contact with the hard tissue.
Such implants and corresponding methods for anchoring these in bone tissue are known from the publications WO 02/069 817, WO 2004/017 857 and WO 2005/079 696. The thermoplastic material of such implants is liquefied by mechanical vibrations while being pressed against osseous material, so that it is pressed into cavities (pores, artificially produced cavities) of the osseous material. This results in a most effective anchoring of the implant in bone tissue.
There are situations however, in which anchoring of implants in hard tissue by mechanical vibrations according to the state-of-the-art technology does not suffice or in which, for technical, anatomical or physiological reasons, it is not possible to load a known implant with sufficient vibratory energy to ensure a reliable anchoring by the known methods.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide implants suitable for being anchored in bone tissue under conditions, which hitherto made such implantations impossible or extremely difficult. It is also the object of the invention to provide methods of anchoring implants, which permit an implantation under conditions, which hitherto made such implantations impossible or extremely difficult.